Love is worth fighting for
by PepperonyOwl
Summary: What would you fight for? And, more importantly, what would you concede defeat for? ... After China, Shampoo realises that killing the obstacle that Akane represents may not end so well for her. So she threatens her with the death of her sisters if she doesn't leave Nerima. With Shampoo keen to snag Ranma at the first chance, will he fall for the trap? Will Akane allow it?
1. The Sacrifice

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I'm not making any money writing this. I am borrowing characters, settings and background stories.

Warnings: Shampoo-bashing. Angst and language.

**Beta-Reader: pursemonger**. Thank you soooo much for reading through this and spotting all the inconsistencies and mistakes. Hopefully now an easier read for everyone – please enjoy!

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In so little time her entire life had turned around. Just two years ago at the age of sixteen she had been introduced to her intended, Ranma Saotome. Though it had originally been a ploy from their fathers to join the two branches of the Anything Goes Martial School, she had quickly grown to like the boy now living in their home. Her life, never having been particularly boring, had quickly gained a level of excitement that even now, after two years, she had not grown accustomed to.

When she first met him, he was in his cursed female form. Having trained with her dad when she was younger and on her own since she was ten, she had grown used to being the best martial artist in town. Curious about their guest – not knowing he was male –Akane had invited Ranma to spar, boasting her own skills. To her surprise Ranma evaded her punches and kicks without difficulty and though unwilling to engage in actual combat, was able to 'defeat' her by dodging all her attacks and tapping her on the back of her head, showing the ease in which Ranma could have dealt with her. It would have hurt Akane's ego, except that she had been excited; not only had she found someone with a higher skill level than hers, but the martial artist was also a girl. Finally, she had thought, someone who would understand the trouble of being feminine, labelled a tomboy and practicing a sport that was still largely dominated by men and that disregarded women as the weaker sex. Akane had even hoped that the girl might be persuaded to help her improve her skills or at least spar with her on occasion.

All that had quickly changed once she found out about the curse. She was actually a he, Ranma Saotome, the boy to be engaged to one of the Tendo sisters, and she had been volunteered. Having trained in China, the boy had gone to the Jusenkyo training grounds with his father and fallen into one of hundreds of cursed springs; turning him into a girl when in contact with cold water and back into a boy when in touch with hot water.

She had been mortified; not only by seeing each other naked in the bathroom but also by having been beaten not by a girl, but by a boy.

On top of that, one of the boys from the upper classes, Tatewaki Kuno, had boldly declared that to earn a date with her, boys would have to defeat her. Thus, every morning since then, without fail, she found herself confronted by a horde of boys at her school, kitted out in protective gear and with weapons, attacking her in order to take her out on a date or worse. Despite her protests against Kuno's claim and her consistently denying she would go out with boys even if they should defeat her, the attacks had not stopped.

Due to this, her opinion of boys was low; believing them to be perverted, twisted individuals without honour.

Then she had been engaged to Ranma Saotome. Over two years, slowly and bit by bit he eroded her defences, overturned her beliefs and allowed her to irrevocably fall in love with him.

Over two years they faced other people with curses, fiancées, engagements, revenge attacks, demons, ghosts, curses, amazons and at the end, a demi-god. And without fail, Ranma had stood in front of her, protecting her, saving her, rescuing her. He was her knight in shining armour.

Ranma, Akane found out, believed in honour above all else. With his dad breaking promises left and right, he decided to do the opposite and never break a promise. His sheer talent for martial arts still left her breathless – he needed only see a technique and he would learn it at such a rapid pace she could scarcely believe he hadn't always known it. He took the "anything goes" part of the Martial Arts school seriously, using everything and anything he could, changing techniques and plans at the drop of a hat, fluently moving from one kata to the next. Then she had known she would never hold a candle to him, but it had given her something to aspire to, something to learn, something that showed her how much she still had to go.

Instead of discouraging her, she could not have been happier; martial arts were her passion and that there was still so much out there she hadn't been exposed to had been exciting.

And Ranma... He was lacking in social skills, with a permanent foot-in-mouth disease, an inability to admit he was wrong, a desperate need to appear masculine and not show any feelings, an enormous ego and the strong belief that he was the best martial artist in the world. But she had, on more than one occasion, been allowed a glimpse into the man behind the bravado, the man who had stolen her heart. The man, who despite all the adversities, was courageous, honest, passionate, shy and honourable. The man who had defended her when Mikado Sanzenin had tried to steal a kiss from her in front of everyone, the man who had turned into a girl and fought in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics in only a leotard; for her, the man who had consoled her when she had been upset over Dr. Tofu's love for her older sister and the man who had ended up fighting for her against a demi-god.

Against all his ideals, to save her, he had taken the only course of option available to rescue her and killed. Then he had proceeded to destroy his chances of returning to his male form in an attempt to save her life and return her from her doll-state.

Over their years together, Akane had found herself relegated to a damsel in distress role far too frequently for her tastes rather than the martial artist and fighter role she wanted to hold. **More often than not**, she had been unable to face their many adversaries on her own, lacking both the skill and experience to defeat them. Instead she had found herself taking insane risks in an instinctive need and desire to help and rescue Ranma. Most times, she had found herself in need of rescue immediately afterwards herself, such as when she had been shrunken to doll or when she had saved him from the eight headed Orochi and he then had to rescue her to save her from being eaten

Despite her best efforts, Akane had come to rely on Ranma. He had seemed undefeatable; no matter who or what stood in his way and how much the odds were stacked in the other party's favour, no matter what he had to do or learn or how often he was beaten prior to winning – he never gave up. He bounced back. And he was always there in the nick of time to rescue her and save her. So despite her best efforts, Akane had started to rely on Ranma to save her.

Not that she'd stopped training – on the contrary. She had increased her morning jogs and tried to find as much time as possible for training in the dojo. But there was only so much one can learn without instructor or partner. Ranma, unwilling to lift a hand against her, continuously denied her and so Akane never received the aid she needed to correct her forms and improve at a pace she could – faults she made carried through all her other manoeuvres as she had no way to recognise the mistakes she was making.

Unfortunately, after two years, it finally cost her.

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"Hold on a sec, let me get this straight. You, Akane Tendo, actually AGREED to marry Ranma? The one and only fiancé you have denied being engaged to for two entire years? You AGREED?", Yuka and Sayuri looked at her, stunned.

Against her will, Akane blushed.

"I thought you said that you wouldn't go through with it unless he said... OH MY GOD! Did he-", Yuka, excited, leant forward looking at her best friend.

"I- It's complicated.", Akane finally stated, only to be interrupted by Sakuya, snorting in laughter.

"Akane, honey, everything with you and Ranma is complicated. I don't think it's ever NOT been complicated."

Allowing a small smile, Akane conceded the point. Their relationship, their friends, families – hell, their entire existence was complicated; and that was not including other fiancées.

"I- In China…"

"You mean when he rescued you. Again. For the umpteenth time."

A wry smile from Yuka and Akane at this point; there was no reason for denying it anymore – her friends knew of a great many of their escapades already.

"Yes, when Ranma rescued me again. Now if you'd let me finish, please! I... thought I heard him say I love you. My dad said he'd get water from the Nanniichuan, the water that would allow him to return to being male 100 % of the time, if I married him. I thought he loved me and I didn't want to marry so young, but I love him. I saw no reason to disagree since the benefits for him would be so great.", Akane's lips quirked into another smile. She had also, rather foolishly considering Soun and Genma's previous schemes, presumed that Ranma had consented.

"On the day of the wedding he denied having ever said he loved me. And... well, as soon as he heard about the water he ran. Guess he didn't want to marry me even if it meant being a man for the rest of his life."

The smile Akane gave her two friends was brittle. The failed wedding had been mere days ago and she had felt both her heart and dreams shatter in one fell swoop. First, when Ranma had taken back his declaration – or never said it at all and when he had left her trying to avoid marrying even if it meant losing out on the water and ran out to obtain it immediately, her heart had broken, realising that her love may just be one sided and not returned. Then she had stepped outside, seen the chaos that was meant to be her wedding – the damaged furniture and broken walls, the fights and bombs, the laughter and cries and fighting. Her dreams of the perfect wedding, which had only been built up higher when Ranma had first been speechless and then complimented her on how beautiful she looked, had shattered in that instant.

Somehow, in such a short space of time, everything seemed to have gone awry.

Sayuri and Yuka picked up on her emotions immediately after having been friends for such a long time and she felt the hug before she even saw them move.

"Men are bastards, 'kane."

Sayuri hummed her agreement as she found herself in a three-way hug between her best friends and for the first time in a week, Akane allowed herself to relax the tight grip she had kept on her emotions and the tears came.

"Shh... I'm sure Ranma didn't mean what he said. You know he tends to always say the wrong things. Besides, maybe he was just nervous 'cause he didn't know how you felt..."

Yuka glared at her other friend and gave her a soft slap on the shoulder, shaking her head.

"On the other hand", Sayuri quickly amended. "Maybe men are just bastards."

Between the tears, Akane let out a chuckle at her words, sniffling quietly. Suddenly, Yuka's grip on her tightened.

"Uh-oh, Shampoo, three o'clock."

Sayuri looked up as well. "That's not three o'clock. That's like ten o'clock!"

Rolling her eyes at her friends she quickly wiped away the tears, composing herself and trying to look less like she had just bawled all over her friends. Giving it up as a bad job, she turned around to face her rival.

"Kitchen wrecker. You and I talk. Shakujii park. After school. Alone."

Akane paused. She knew Ranma was on the other side of the school with his friends currently and unlikely to find about this. But Shampoo was still much better martial artist than her – though never one to back down from a challenge, Akane nodded coolly at the purple haired Amazonian warrior.

A cold smirk settled on the other girl lips before she disappeared on her bicycle at blazing speed.

There was a slight pause as her best friends looked at her.

"You are going to tell Ranma about this, right?" Yuka cautiously questioned, frowning at the determined expression on her friend's face.

Glaring, Akane looked up.

"I can fight my own fights, thank you. I don't need Ranma to fight them for me. I will turn up. Alone. And you two will keep quiet about this – promise me!"

Sayuri exchanged a short glance with Yuka.

"You can't be serious. You have to tell Ranma!"

Shoulders straightening, Akane looked at her friends.

"Promise me. I am a martial artist. Even if there is a fight and I do lose – this is MY fight. Not Ranma's. My pride and my honour is at stake here; I gave her my word. You can't tell Ranma. PROMISE ME!"

Akane was glad she had chosen a secluded spot as opposed to her normal one, as she had wanted peace and quiet to share the events from the wedding with her best friends. On this occasion it meant that she didn't have people who could report back that they had seen Shampoo talk to her.

Reluctantly, both her friends agreed to keep quiet.

Sighing in relief, Akane smiled and chatted again to her friends, ignoring the time passage and the previous heavy topics, thoughts racing as she tried to figure out what Shampoo could want to talk to her about.

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Ranma stared at his favourite fiancée. Something was off. Akane had never been good at being covert so when she said she needed to go elsewhere and he should go ahead, all his alarm bells rang.

Since he'd nearly lost her in China, Ranma had found himself unable to leave Akane alone for long periods of time, needing to check visually at least that she was still here – with him – and alive. He had even found himself waking up at intervals throughout the night and checked on her then – it was embarrassing and yet he was too afraid to allow her to be without him, thus he was in a vicious cycle.

"Uh-huh. I haven't got anything to do, I'll come with you."

He stared at her, challenging her. And as always, his fiery tomboy responded in kind.

"Okay. Let me spell it out for you then, Ranma, since you are so keen to accompany me. I have my period and it's particularly heavy this time so I need to go buy different towels. Still want to come along?"

Ranma found himself blushing, feeling hot and cold simultaneously as a part of him felt challenged to be with her nonetheless whilst the other, larger part cringed and wanted to run the other way and pretend he had not heard what she had just said.

"I- err.. That is to say- I think I've forgotten something at home."

He could hear her giggle as he fled the scene with rapid movements. It wasn't until he took his shoes off at home that it finally occurred to him that it had been nothing but a diversionary tactic.

He knew Akane – no telltale blushing, no embarrassment. She had lied! A part of him wanted to smile in acknowledgement for her victory but the other part was nervous of where she had really gone. Shoes back on, Ranma was back out on the street, hoping to find his fiancée and assure himself of her continued safety.

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Kasumi walked out of the kitchen, frowning slightly.

"I could have sworn I heard someone coming home."

Shrugging slightly, she dismissed the worry she felt and returned to the dinner preparations.

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"So... what did you want to talk about, Shampoo?"

The Amazon could hardly believe that the dumb blue haired girl had actually complied and turned up alone. Foolish mistake. She smirked.

"Cancel engagement to Airen."

Her rival just rolled her eyes.

"Really? Same old thing again? We've been through this. It was our fathers' idea – I am not cancelling it."

"Ah, but agree to marry, last week, yes?"

It was almost too easy. The blue haired girl blushed slightly and lost eye contact momentarily.

"Only for the nanniichuan."

Shampoo kept her face icy. She had never taken Akane seriously, despite Ranma continuing to protect her at every turn. It had just proven to her that he took honour seriously, that he thought the kitchen wrecker was unable to defend herself. There had been doubts, occasionally, about the extent of his feelings, of course. But never worse than when they were in China; she had seen how far he was willing to go for Akane, how much he was willing to sacrifice and seen that he was willing to kill to keep her save. It was hard to fool herself that he would do the same for her.

Obstacles, such as Akane, were usually for killing. Shampoo was well aware though that should she follow the rules, she was forfeiting her own life as well. Ranma had proven how far he was willing to go for Akane and there was no need to test if that applied to her own life as well. And besides, taking that action would certainly not endear her to her fiancé. Amazonian tribes understood the rules but Ranma was remarkably set against death despite the many foes he'd encountered. No, she' decided, this required a different approach altogether.

"You sisters have, yes? Nabiki? Kasumi? If kitchen wrecker persists... there may be accidents."

Akane's head shot up and her eyes widened. Shampoo had never gone so far as to threaten her sisters' safety.

"Ranma and I will protect them!", fuming she stared at the other girl, unable to believe she would go that far.

"Airen and kitchen wrecker go school. No be around 24/7. Shame for sisters die because of stubborn Akane, yes? They know no martial arts, no?"

Head whirring she stared at the purple haired Amazonian, unable to form words. After a short pause, the other girl continued.

"Give three days. Leave in three days. No tell Ranma about Shampoo. Leave and sisters live. If not..."

With an icy glare and cold smirk, Shampoo shot up into the trees and disappeared, leaving a flabbergasted Akane behind.

Neither Kasumi nor Nabiki knew martial arts beyond the basics that they had all been taught as young girls. They didn't know how to defend themselves and Shampoo had proven on more than one memorable occasion how easy it was for her to sneak into the house.

And Shampoo was right; neither Ranma nor herself would be able to protect both her sisters at all times. There would be unobserved moments and Shampoo's skill level was high. She would be able to make it look like an accident easily enough. Even if she included her father into her calculations, there was no way of protecting them at all times. And who knew for how long they needed to do this? When would they be safe? After a day? A Week? A Month? They couldn't carry it on for a year, surely. Then again, Shampoo had followed Ranma and his father across two countries for months, leaving everything she knew behind.

Oh God. What was she going to do? Blindly, Akane sat down on the ground, body trembling as she stared into nothingness.

She was a martial artist. She could learn to defend herself and fight Shampoo... But the problem remained. Akane was willing to go far for her family, very far. But to kill someone she had already defeated? For what reason... No, she couldn't do that unless she attacked her family outright and didn't just threaten.

And besides, three days would be nowhere near enough time to raise her skills to match Shampoo's. Whilst she liked to pretend otherwise in front of Ranma, she was well aware that Shampoo still outmatched her.

But that only left... leaving. Leaving Ranma, her family and friends, everything and everyone she loved behind. Could she really go through with that?

Breathing out, Akane admitted to herself that that wasn't a real question. She knew she could easily go through with it if it assured her family's safety, if it meant they would live then she would abandon them rather than stay and watch their deaths.

But Ranma, Akane silently admitted to herself, would be the hardest. She loved him, she knew that. And she wasn't sure what he felt – whether he loved her or not, but if she left she'd never be given the opportunity to find out if he could love her, if he could be interested in her above the other fiancées.

Swallowing hard, Akane stared emptily at the wind whistling through the trees. Was she really contemplating this? Would she really leave without a fight?

Biting her lip, Akane stood up and made her way home, trying to wipe away those thoughts. Surely there were other options?

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Ranma was surprised when Akane walked into the dojo in the middle of his kata. He had finally given up on his search around dinner time only to find out that she was already home. Furious with himself, he'd kept quiet during dinner, hoping to avoid starting another fight due to his frustrations – though Akane had been rather silent herself to his surprise.

He paused in his movement.

"Akane?"

"Can I ask you a question, Ranma?"

Her serious tone warned him not to make an inappropriate joke so he just grabbed his towel and wiped off the sweat before sitting down across from her.

"Sure. What's up?"

He watched as his fiancée bit her pink lips, brown eyes wide and resting on his own, shining with uncertainty. Somehow, she seemed even cuter now than two years ago.

"I... If you were challenged to a fight where losing meant that the people you love will die and you know that you are not up to their level... would you still fight? Or would you leave?"

Ranma frowned, feeling his muscles tense automatically. Someone had challenged Akane to a fight?

"Who has challenged you? I'll fight for you."

Akane smiled softly at the predictable response from her fiancé.

"Baka." Her tone was soft, almost using it as a term of endearment rather than the insult it should have been. "It's a hypothetical question."

Ranma stared at her, eyes narrowed. Something was off, that much was certain. But it could wait until tomorrow and he'd ask around at school to see if anyone knew anything about this.

"You are certain you can't win? Not with distraction, techniques, weapons? And it's certain that someone you love dies should you lose?"

At her nod, he gave her a grim smile.

"Then forfeit. And train, train hard. Then come back and fight them, win and make them back off."

"What if... What if winning meant you had to kill as they would otherwise come back to hurt the ones you love anyway?"

Unable to help himself, he pulled Akane into a hug, swallowing hard, still remembering the moment he had made the decision back in China that he had to kill or Akane would die.

"I'll protect you." He never, ever wanted her to go through that. She was his tomboy. She was under his protection and she should never have to face making that horrible decision he'd been forced to take.

Eyes closed, his arms tightened around her small body. She fitted surprisingly well into him, he noticed.

"Please, 'kane, let me know what's wrong. I'll fight for you, I'll handle everything. Please."

He was not usually one for begging unless it was as a distraction for the enemy, but this was Akane and something was seriously wrong.

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Akane burrowed her face against Ranma's shoulders, still feeling his body radiating with heat from his earlier exertion. She could feel his hard muscles under her fingertips, reassuring her silently that he was a formidable foe against anyone she required protection from. He had become her safety net without her realising.

Feeling desperation rise in her, her chest clamped and it was suddenly difficult to swallow. It would be so easy to tell Ranma everything, leave him to protect her, save her, as he had done from the day they first met. Her arms tightened around his masculine frame, desperate to feel his strength, assure herself that he could really protect her sisters; that she could tell him what had happened.

But instead her head reminded her of the impossibility of the task and her desperation slowly made way to an emptiness that made her want to both cry and scream in anguish.

How had things gone from bad to worse in such a short period of time?

Slowly relinquishing her hold on Ranma she moved back to her earlier position, eyes miraculously dry as she looked at the man she loved, decision made. A smile lit up her face and she watched as he blushed, another short moment of sadness welling up inside her at the lack of time they had had together and the impossibility of exploring these feelings with him.

"Thank you, Ranma."

Just as she was about to leave the dojo, his voice stopped her.

"'Kane? You'd tell me if you needed help, wouldn't you?"

It took Akane a moment to force the smile that she knew would convince him on her face before she turned around to face him again.

"Of course, Ranma."

She felt his eyes on her back as she walked back to her room.

Preparations needed to be made.

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Worried, Ranma had been unable to sleep and stayed up all night on the roof above Akane's room. She'd had her curtains closed but he checked her ki every now and then and minus the emotional fluctuations he could sense, she was fine.

Did she not know that he would do anything to protect her? Had he not proven that in China? Why not trust him now?

Sighing, Ranma left his position at sunrise, shaking the feeling back into his legs as he slipped into his room through the window. At least nothing had happened last night.

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Despite his best efforts, no one at school knew anything. Even Nabiki, the one who usually had all the information at her fingertips, knew nothing.

Sending sideways glances at his fiancée, he frowned. She'd been up in the school office and at her doctors. What was she up to? Was it even related or just coincidental?

He sighed looking at his fiancée's determined expression.

Why did it always have to be the hard way?

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Despite how much she would prefer to spend the small amount of time that remained with her family and Ranma, there were too many preparations to be made in too short a time scale. She'd snuck in the paperwork she required from her father as a "field trip" she needed him to sign off. He hadn't even looked at it.

She was now allowed to legally change her name as well as rent a flat. Step one: done. She knew there was packing to be done still, finding out where she was going to go and what school she was going to attend. She'd already obtained transcripts from her doctors and the school for her moving and she'd informed the school office of her leaving. She knew the secretary and the information was easily lost in the system until someone accessed the information specifically.

Next, she knew, was sorting through her belonging and figuring out where she wanted to go. Then it was time to start laying false trails.

Breathing in, she swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling the now familiar sadness and desperation well up inside herself. Sternly, she reminded herself that this was for Nabiki and Kasumi. Looking at herself in the mirror she tried out expressions of happiness, knowing she needed to fool her family at dinner. Akane left her room only moments later.

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Ranma watched, gobsmacked, as his fiancée walked into the Nekohanten. What did she want in there?

It had been two days since their weird conversation in the dojo and if anything, his worry over her had only increased. He still had no further leads as to what was going on and it nagged at him. Maybe it had really been hypothetical – but if that were the case then why was she behaving so oddly?

Ranma grumbled. He'd never understand females. Shampoo and Akane hated each other, of that he had been certain. So why visit?

Women...

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"Kitchen wrecker make decision, then?"

Shampoo tried to not look too gleeful as she watched her Airen's fiancée walk into the private room with her. She watched as the other girl gritted her teeth and glared at her, hatred evident in those eyes for the first time.

"I forfeit. I will leave Nerima. And Ranma. You will leave my family alone in return."

Unable to suppress her smirk any longer, the purple haired girl looked at her ex-rival in satisfaction.

"Promise on Amazonian honour – no touch family so long Akane remain gone."

It was oddly satisfying to watch the other girls' fist clench and the range of emotions pass across her face, before she gave a firm nod and turned around to leave. At the door, she watched her hesitate, head down and eyes on the floor.

"If... If Ranma chooses you, promise me you'll make him happy."

Shampoo's smirk vanished and for the first time she felt something akin to sympathy for the girl, though it passed quickly.

"Shampoo promises make Airen very happy."

Brown eyes met her own for a moment and she received another decisive nod.

"See that you do."

Shampoo watched the other girl go, wondering if she had done the right thing for the first time. Surely Airen would choose her, now that this one was out of the picture? Not Okonomiyaki-girl certainly. He needn't ever know what she'd done, otherwise, she knew, he would be very, very upset with her.

There had been numerous occasions where she had threatened to kill Akane herself and he had never done anything further beyond fighting her but something had changed in China. Shampoo had threatened to kill a helpless Akane-doll in her hands, to crush her if he didn't do as she said. That, she knew, had been her first strike. And when she had admitted at the wedding that her bomb had actually been intended for the bride, she had noticed the glacial expression on his face moments before Ukyo's had made contact.

Since then, her Airen had only glared at her and ignored her. But now that kitchen wrecker was gone and the engagement dissolved, he would come to her, right? There would be nothing further to keep him from honouring their engagement and coming back to her village... right? Why did she suddenly have this ominous feeling in her chest? Like something was really, really not going according to plan. As if she had just made a very big mistake?

Shampoo shook her head, reassuring herself that she was indeed doing the right thing and skipping out to help serve the customers.

She noticed her great-grandmothers questioning eyes on her, but resolved to ignore it for now.

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Akane knew she couldn't behave too oddly for fear of setting off alarm bells in everyone's head but it was hard. She wanted, desperately, to hug her father, wanted him to reassure as he hadn't done since she was a small child, wanted him to tell her that everything would be alright.

She wanted to run to Kasumi and wanted her to kiss her brow and get all the tender, motherlike attention from her she could. She wanted to talk to Nabiki and tell her all was forgiven, wanted to hug her sister and chat about boys.

And most of all she wanted Ranma to hug her again. Wanted a kiss from the man she loved – her first kiss, their first kiss. She wanted to tell him she loved him, wanted to feel his lips on hers, wanted to stop wondering what it would feel like. But she knew that was selfish so she suppressed the desire. But maybe at least a hug? Warm arms encircling her and the feeling of infinite safety and protection that even her father couldn't give her anymore.

It was easy to put something in Ranma's tea that would put him to sleep. She knew he'd been keeping watch on her from the roof, had felt his ki brush against hers – but tonight that couldn't happen. Everyone else slept well anyway so there was no need for forcing them to bed.

She fisted her hands slightly to resist her innate desires to be selfish and ask someone else to deal with all this. Eighteen was old enough to deal with these things, she reminded herself sternly.

All too soon everyone was in bed.

With quiet, efficient movements, Akane took her backpack out of her wardrobe and put the letters for her family and friends onto the side cupboard. She stifled a sob that threatened to escape her and looked around, mentally checking if she had done everything she needed to.

After a moment's hesitation she left her pack and snuck into Ranma's room.

Her hand rose on its own accord, shakily caressing his cheek and putting a stray hair aside. She only had one picture of him – had never thought it necessary to take pictures of him, of them. She regretted that now.

"I love you, Ranma."

She suppressed a sniffle as tear ran down her face, leaning over Ranma to press her lips to his cheek in a soft, feather light touch, before going back to her room.

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_"I love you, Ranma." _

Frowning, Ranma fought against the drowsiness and shook the sleep off himself long enough to look around his room. No one here. He could've sworn... Checking, he found Akane's ki in her room, where it should be.

Shrugging to himself and putting it off as a figment of his imagination, sleep claimed him again rather quickly as the sleeping drugs refused to release their hold on him too early.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ranma, would you please go wake Akane up?" Kasumi looked at the boy expectantly.

"Why is it always me?"

Despite his words, Ranma was standing up already and on his way to her room.

"'Kane, hey, Akane" He knocked on her door several times. Frowning, he knocked again before announcing that he would enter now.

To his surprise the room was empty. Shrugging off the bad feeling he walked down, guessing that she'd simply gone for an extended morning jog.

Checking the shoes at the front door he found hers still there, just next to his. The feeling increased. Something was wrong, very wrong.

He walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Kasumi, Akane is not in her room and her shoes are still here. Any ideas?"

The eldest daughter looked up in surprise, before looking contemplative.

"Oh my. Could you check the dojo, please, Ranma? I will check her room again."

With one smooth, graceful movement Kasumi lifted herself to her feet and moved in the direction of Akane's bedroom. Her sister had behaved rather oddly last night.

It only took Kasumi a second scan of the room before she noticed the envelopes on her night table. The one on the top was addressed to Ranma but she quickly found one addressed to herself.

_Dearest Kasumi,_

_I apologise for making you worry in advance. I love you very, very much. I don't think I ever thanked you for taking on so many responsibilities upon mum's death, even though you were still young yourself. Thank you for taking care of me for all these years. I will miss you terribly._

_I am sorry for leaving, I hate to do this to you and everyone else but I can't see any other options. I was told in no uncertain terms that you would be killed if I did not leave, as would Nabiki. Neither of you have sufficient martial arts skills to defend yourself and I am not stupid enough to think I could remain around you 24/7 – nor could Ranma, for that matter._

_So please believe me when I say I love you and everyone else above all else._

_I will be fine but cannot have any further contact with you or the others. I hope you marry a handsome man (maybe a certain doctor), have lots of children and the life you always wanted. You will make a fantastic mother, you were one for me._

_I love you, always._

_Akane_

For a moment the eldest sister simply stared at the familiar handwriting of her sister. Surely she wouldn't do something so stupid?

Then she cursed herself, of course she would. Akane was gone.

Wiping away the tears she grabbed the other letters and ran down to bring the news to the rest of her family and to allow them to read their own letters.

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Ranma stared at the unopened envelope in front of him, as the Tendo's broke down into tears around him. He'd known. He'd known something was wrong. He should've done something, challenged her, stopped her. Something, anything.

His fist crashed into the floor in his anger, but neither he nor anyone else took note, wrapped up in their own grief.

Biting his lips, hard, he opened the envelope.

_Ranma,_

_I am not sure how to start this letter. Dear Ranma? Dearest Ranma? _

_Nothing's ever simple with us, is it? I mean, look at how we started out: you were female and won against me in the one thing I was proud of excelling at: Martial Arts. Then we see each other naked, insult each other, get engaged to one another against our will and pushed together at every turn by your father and mine. It's a miracle we get along as well as we do. _

_And you have defended and protected me against everyone even at the risk of your own life._

_God, this letter is a mess. I apologise. I don't know how to organise my thoughts, so bear with me. _

_To tell you the truth, I kind of enjoyed fighting with you; it made my pulse race and adrenaline rush through my system. It was fun when it didn't get out of hand._

_I apologise for calling you a pervert and other names on occasion. I know you aren't, we simply have the worst luck and I don't have the patience to hear you out before jumping to conclusions; I can admit that much. _

_The reason I am leaving is because I cannot fight this enemy. The problem is not only my skill level but the fact that my sisters are involved. Neither can protect themselves adequately and I fear for their lives. I know you would try to protect them but it would involve either killing the person who threatened this in the first place or remaining with them 24/7 for who knows how long. Neither was an acceptable or even feasible solution to me. For that I apologise._

_I know you want to protect me but this time there is nothing you can do._

_Please accept that I have to cut all ties to my family and you. I have left Nerima. I may leave Japan. Please do not look for me. I got daddy to sign a form that releases you from your engagement to me. There is no honour binding you to find me. _

_I would rather you find happiness, with whomever that may lie with for you. I know that you are young still (as am I) but this is for the future. I hope you will find someone that genuinely makes you happy._

_I never had the courage to say this to you when you are awake and I apologise for not telling you in person but I see no other solution at this point in time. I love you. I have loved you since the moment you tried to cheer me up after Kasumi visited Dr. Tofu. Well, it was more infatuation at that point but it grew into love. _

_I hope you forgive me for not telling you sooner. I thought we still had time. I thought there was time to explore how you felt, to see if there was something between us. Now we will never have the chance. I regret that._

_I hope you continue on your path as the best martial artist I have ever met. I will certainly continue on mine, though I have a lot to catch up on. I hope you grow old, have a family and train other people in the way of the martial arts and the way of honour._

_Please be happy._

_Love, always,_

_Akane_

Ranma glared at the letter in his hand. What gave her the right? Confessing her love and then leaving – a cowards way out. His hand clenched and he frowned.

He needed to find her. Fast. She was his tomboy and there was no way he was letting her go just like that.

Mind made up, Ranma quickly found his shoes and after a short moment, her father, his father and his mother joined him, deciding to separate for the search so they could cover more ground quicker.

Nabiki would be phoning all her contacts in an attempt to find their youngest sister. Kasumi, very well known in the entire neighbourhood, phoned all the people she knew to look for information.

Unfortunately, whilst Akane's false trails were not particularly successful in and of themselves they were sufficient to distract for a couple of hours each time. It was hard to figure out where she really had gone for by the time they found the right trail, it had gone cold.

They finally figured out she'd gone south, to Kyoto and Osaka. From there the trail went cold entirely. It took them another few weeks to figure out that she had changed her hair colour and dressed as a boy with a hat and glasses – and that was only by chance.

Akane, however, remained missing. Despite extensive searches, investigations and money spent, Akane was never found.

However, she did return to Nerima - four years later.

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Righto, let me know what you guys think. I was thinking of only having two more chapters to this story. The second one is currently with my beta for review!

Cheers,

PepperonyOwl


	2. Akane's new life

Here is the next Chapter from Akane's POV. The one after this will be only half its length but will be from Ranma's POV. Please give your thanks to my fabulous beta reader who is going through one chapter after another at blazing speeds so you can read this! Thanks** pursemonger!**

This chapter is dedicated to my beta reader, pursemonger, as well as all my reviewers:

**The Keeper of Worlds: **Thanks for reviewing! I'm afraid she's avoiding Ryoga :) But I'll let you read on to find out more! Let me know what you think!

**Guest:** Thank you for your review! Nah, no boyfriend. Too little time, too much to do. But hopefully still interesting – please enjoy.

**caia-chan: **Thank you for your review… I can't answer your questions just now, but the next two chapters should answer most if not all of these! Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

**Vanesa: **Thank you for your review. I won't spoil the story, but your answers will be in the next two chapters. Please do enjoy. Let me know what you think!

**Flameraven1: **Yay, thank you for your review. It is my belief that Shampoo never had the passion for martial arts that both Ranma and Akane have. We never really see her train to get better unless there's a fight she needs to train for. Both Ranma and Akane have a desire to improve – I don't think Shampoo does. She already thinks she is better than both Akane and Ukyo. Anyway, I'll let you read. Please keep reviewing!

**Richard Ryley**: Yay! Thanks for your review. I agree with Shampoo and that it would be a dishonor should she do something so stupid. Also yes, Akane could've prevented the entire thing talking to Ranma but we all know she's stubborn and unfortunately teenagers have this thing where they think they know best and got it all figured out – there is no other option. Besides, we wouldn't have this story if that had happened :) The poison idea is good, I hadn't thought of that. And your other suggestions are answered within the next two chapters. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

**Compucles**: Thank you for your review. I agree, Akane is being a bit stupid – she's behaving like a teenager who thinks she knows best. My idea is that Akane has some savings which she uses up very quickly though. Your questions should all be answered within the next chapter, but if something's unclear, let me know and I'll explain what I was thinking. I wasn't sure – all the other boys seemed to immediately know about Yusenkyo so I took my lead from that. But you're right, re-reading it certainly seemed as though Ranma didn't find out until he was at the actual springs. Hope you enjoy the next chapter – and let me know what you think!

**own son**: Thank you for your review! All your answers will – should – be in the next two chapters so do let me know if I have left anything unanswered. If I address them here I'd spoil it so… Please enjoy reading and let me know what you think!

**Jilly: **Thank you for your review and I'm glad you think Akane is in character. It will now probably be four chapters all in all as I have finished the next two and I'm not finished yet… soo, at least one more! Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think!

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Finally, she was here. Higashi-Hachimori.

She looked around. It was a relatively small town near the sea and the mountains in the north-west of Japan. It had been a deliberate choice to go for such a small town in the hopes of word not reaching her family.

Akane grimaced, thinking of how low her funds were already. The price of the haircut in Osaka had been higher than anticipated and laying all the false trails had been hard and cost money. Shaking off these thoughts she pulled on her backpack and tightened her grip on the bag in her hand. Time to find an apartment for rent.

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It took her almost all day to find a place within her price range and acceptable to live in. It wasn't in one of the nicer areas of the small town, but that mattered little to Akane who knew she could defend herself should someone be stupid enough to attack her. Besides the large empty lands around her would give her a practice area and allow her to improve her martial art skills.

Grateful that the flat was available immediately, Akane sank on to the floor. So many things she had never considered – how do you inspect a flat for damage and solidity? How do you check if the rent contract was reasonable?

She sighed. Changing her name had been ridiculously easy after showing her father's signature. She knew it automatically removed her from the family scrolls as well – it was an ancient law to protect her identity. Setsuko Shimizo – Shimizo due to how common this particular last name was and Setsuko to remind her of staying away – Child of Fidelity.

It was surprisingly hard to remember her new name – especially when it came to signing the rent contract with it.

Spreading out her futon she decided to look for food and a job tomorrow. There was no need to make herself sick with her own cooking just now – she smiled wryly in acknowledgement to her prior attempts and Ranma's usually horrified expressions. She had already eaten all the snacks she'd packed and thought that next time she should really pack more.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and as her stomach growled with hunger her last thoughts were with her fiancé, wondering if this was how he'd lived with when he was a child while training with Genma. Hungry and cold. Nevertheless dreams took her quickly away from the harsh reality.

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They were already three months into the year, so it was hard to convince the headmaster to let her into school – especially as she was only able to pay a part of the fees at this point of time.

He had been even more against the idea, when she had to tell him a cover story, asking him not to contact her previous school. She had, supposedly, broken her family honour by refusing an arranged marriage and her father had asked her to leave the clan. She was not allowed contact and no one was to know who she was in exchange for not being asked to commit Seppuku. The headmaster swallowed her lie easily but was staunchly against her attending his school.

It took over an hour before he allowed her to attend the school, so long as her grades were excellent, and he even agreed for her to pay the fee in instalments. He warned her that one foot out of line would result in her immediate expulsion. Akane agreed to the terms, glad to be allowed to continue her education.

By the time she left the headmaster's office, Akane was exhausted and a lot poorer. She could only hope to have sufficient money to buy the school uniform and food for the next two days. It had never occurred to her how much money she would have to spend on all this essentials.

Worrying her lip slightly, she decided to go job hunting first. A glance in the mirror made her pause at the unfamiliar face; she still wasn't used to the brown hair her reflection had nor the new hair style. Instead of the curved, short hair with some over her forehead, her hair was now cut in layers so it was shorter, needed less attention and ... looked more masculine. She sighed, turning away from her reflection. It had seemed such a good idea at the time.

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By the evening, Akane had been able to obtain the new school uniform for Monday and have a little food. She had been able to get a small waitressing job on weekends, but knew it would be nowhere near enough to sustain her, never mind paying her bills and the fee for school.

Hopefully one of the other three jobs would get back to her as well.

God, life was hard. She'd never complain again about the chaos Kuno, the hentai horde, her family, Ranma and their various enemies brought. Martial arts she was familiar with. This – this was not something she enjoyed. It seemed so much more stressful when you didn't know how to deal with the situations.

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Akane sighed. It had taken three shouts of her name before she realised that she was now Setsuko. Her boss had been incensed at her apparent refusal to come over when he called and gave her a warning to not let it happen again.

Two hours and already she had nearly lost her job.

Ignoring her woes she turned to the latest customers, brilliant smile on her face as she welcomed them into the small cafe.

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Nervously, Akane stared at the building in front of her. High school. She wondered if it'd be in any way similar to her old school.

Smoothing down her skirt she walked towards the reception, intent on obtaining her schedule so she could find her class on time.

"Shimizo-san? Here is your schedule."

Akane gave a wry smile at the receptionist.

"Am I the only one starting three months late, I take it."

The receptionist – who appeared only a year or two older than herself - giggled.

"Yes, not many people start so late. If you go down this corridor it's the third door on the right."

Bowing, Akane said her thanks and moved to where she had been pointed.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the door handle and entered the classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, Shimizo-san, I presume. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, please?"

"Yes. Good Morning.", Akane sketched a small bow at her class mates. "My name is Setsuko Shimizo. I am a martial artist. I look forward to meeting you all."

A girl with dark blonde hair stood up, waving at her and indicating the seat beside her. "You can sit here, if you'd like."

Akane smiled in relief and she heard some of the boys start whispering as she took her seat, grateful to have such nice classmates for once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, martial arts, huh? You don't look... you know..." The other girl indicated to her arms as if to say she was expecting bulging muscles there instead of the lean ones she had.

Akane grinned despite herself at that mental image.

"I am a martial artist, not a sumo wrestler."

She had quickly found herself encircled by the other girls as soon as lunch break started, eager to know the new person.

"So you like fighting?"

One of the 'girly girls' as Akane had quietly dubbed them, looked at her, incomprehension and surprise easily visible on her features. She was petite, with long black hair and dark eyes, a traditional Japanese beauty.

Akane smiled softly. She had been asked that more than once in her life.

"I love Martial Arts. It's who I am, how I live my life. I love sparring and even when you get bruised it simply is a sign to me that I need to learn more, train harder, get better."

The other girls stared at her now and she flushed slightly at the attention.

"Soo... Which boy in our class do you think is hot? I personally quite like Haruo – he's cute."

The other girls giggled and blushed at the topic change from Sakura, another girl in her class, sending surreptitious glances at the boys before blushing and giggling again.

Hesitantly, Akane found her eyes scanning the boys but before she knew it she found herself comparing them to Ranma. And they simply couldn't compare, his easy manner, the way his muscles played under his skin, always in tension, always aware. The way he would blush and look at her shyly, the way he'd grin and tease her... She missed him.

"Oooh!"

"Huh?" Akane quickly jolted back to reality as the girls broke into laughter around her. "What?"

"You could've told us you're in love already."

"What? I- No! I'm not."

"Uh-huh. C'mon, it's not like we don't recognise the look on your face. Aiko here has been together with her boyfriend for one and a half years already and she is still going on about how perfect and annoying he is." Aforementioned girl rolled her eyes at the teasing but reluctantly nodded in admission to her.

"So, who is he?"

All set to deny the accusation, Akane paused. What did it matter if they knew? As long as she didn't mention where she was from, it should be fine, right?

"I... had this fiancé. Mine and his father made an agreement about ….when they were younger... Anyway, after two years of being together, fighting together I ... kinda, sorta fell in love with him."

The girls sighed at the romanticism, allowing Akane to blush momentarily.

"Unfortunately…his father wasn't ...well, honourable about the engagement. He had two other fiancées… one he got through a misunderstanding in China and another one thanks to his dad's empty promises. Ra- My fiancé is never really clear about how he feels about anyone – he believes it to be emasculating so after two years all three of us were still engaged to him."

The girls were now staring at her in amazement. Akane was aware that anyone not exposed to the craziness that happened in Nerima would find her story hard to believe but she hadn't quite appreciated how unbelievable even just the barebones of it sounded.

"And, well…. One of his fiancées threatened my sisters. I moved here, away from him; from them. But I already miss him and I miss my family."

More than one of the girls had ended up in tears and hugging her. Sakura looked at her, intrigued.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"What?" Kazue jabbed her elbow into her friends ribs, shaking her head in admonishment.

"What? I am just asking!", Sakuya defended herself. Against their will, almost all eyes landed on Akane again, who blushed.

"I... We never kissed."

"IN TWO YEARS! You were engaged, girl, you could've gone further than kissing! Why didn't you kiss him? Was he not attractive?"

Blushing, Akane stared at the floor. Ranma unattractive?

"I... No, he was, err, very attractive. It's... We both were – are – incredibly shy. I mean, the only time we ever sort of kissed was with a tape over his mouth."

They stared at her. Akane thought it probably wouldn't be good to mention the sort-of kiss in neko ken state. She wasn't quite sure how to go about explaining that one without delving deeper into Ranma's own past.

"A what over his mouth? Why would you do that?"

Akane sighed. It was hard to explain the mess that hers and Ranma's lives had been.

"We... I told you how I love martial arts, right? Well we were in a play for Romeo and Juliet – and I was Juliet. He was made Romeo. Near the end he was meant to kiss me and... well to make it easier I put a plaster over his mouth and kissed him." [Again over sharing, maybe just skip the part about her being a kid and wanting to play Juliet as a little girl.]

"Why wouldn't he kiss you?" Kazue looked at her in surprise, as did the other girls. "Did he not like you?"

Akane blushed even brighter, remembering Ranma's words.

"Ah... no, that's not the problem. He confessed in front of the entire school when my dad asked him if he hated me that much, that it wouldn't be this hard if he didn't like me."

The girls around her aww'd at the romantic confession and soon she found herself swamped by the girls asking for more details on hers and Ranma's relationship. As well as the other girls.

It was actually... kind of a relief to be able to talk about this with someone. She missed him fiercely already and they had barely been separated. It was reassuring in a way to tell the others of various instances in their chaotic life where he'd either sort of confessed his interest in her or been seemingly jealous.

To her surprise, Akane found herself enjoying her new school and the girls here with her. It had been a long time since she had someone from the outside to talk to who wasn't involved in half the drama that usually took place. She even found herself confessing to encountering Ranma for the first time in the bathroom which set all the girls off into hysterics and blushes.

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To make ends meet, Akane found herself not training in martial arts for over two weeks as her body had to get used to rising early, completing her homework and then going to school – running home to change her clothes before turning up at work until 8 p.m. and then starting work at a restaurant from 8.30 until 11.30 p.m.

By the time she arrived home she was usually beyond exhausted – though the work at the restaurant allowed her to at least eat there so she didn't need to spend money on buying groceries beyond breakfast. She was skipping lunch to save money.

On weekends she'd work in the cafe in the mornings and in the library from noon until evening. The demands on her body were quite different to what she was used to and it took time to adjust to the new sleeping schedule.

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After two weeks she realised she would be forced to reduce her sleeping hours to make time to practice martial arts. So she found herself, at 4 a.m., in the forest nearby, running through her kata, before walking to school.

Despite the lack of sleep the relief she got from her kata and being able to practice again made up for it. Weekends she allowed herself a couple of hours in the evenings for practice.

It was about a month into her stay that she first noticed the old man watching her practice. She decided to ignore him as simply another creep. Without fail, he turned up every time she practiced and Akane found herself unnerved until after over a week of this she finally confronted him.

"WHY are you watching me?"

Green eyes stared at her as the old man raised an eyebrow at her temper outburst.

"You put too much weight on heels during kata."

Frowning in surprise, Akane momentarily looked at her own feet before her head shot back up, angry at the old man and upset at his suggestion that she was doing one of her basic kata wrong.

The old man was gone.

Stepping forwards, she looked around but he seemed to have disappeared. Akane waited another few moments before she went back into the kata. It took a surprising amount of focus to shift her centre of balance forward a bit as she had practiced this for nearly a decade. Slowly, correcting her balance every time slightly she repeated the kata over and over again until she had it down. Spinning into a fast kick, she found herself frowning as she wiped the sweat of her face.

Huh, who knew? The old man had been right. She'd presumed it was normal to have that slight feeling of falling whenever you kicked; it had never occurred to her it may have to do with her balance. Her dad had certainly never corrected her.

Frowning, Akane stared at the space the old man had occupied before realising the time. Cursing, she ran all the way to school.

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Over the next two weeks the old man kept turning up to her training and whenever challenged by her, he would point out another flaw that Akane found herself correcting. Slowly, steadily, she improved, to her immense surprise.

So, biting her lip and swallowing her pride, Akane bowed to the old man when he turned up this time.

"Would you consider teaching me, sensei? I wish to become a better martial artist and you have already helped. Could you help me more?"

For the first time the man approached – he was taller than her, lean muscles on his body and stern, green eyes focussed on her bowing form.

"Why do you want to learn martial arts?"

Akane paused. She... didn't know. All she knew was that she loved the arts. Was that what he wanted to hear, though?

"I... I love martial arts. I love sparring, I love learning and getting better. Please. Teach me."

"What does being a martial artist mean to you?"

Akane frowned inwardly. Was he or was he not considering teaching her? Why was he asking her all these questions?

"Being a martial artist is about honour, about defending people and helping those unable to help themselves."

She heard the man snort and her teeth gritted automatically.

"You dishonoured your family, yet here you are, talking about honour."

Her head shot up to stare at him.

"How- how do you know that?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "Does that matter?"

"Of- Of course! I mean...", Akane hesitated. The only damage would be against her own reputation and she could bear that. Did having someone teach her not matter far more than that?

"I- No, it doesn't." She finally agreed and he nodded in approval.

"Now, why should I teach you?"

She stared at him, gobsmacked. It hadn't occurred to her. She had sufficient money to pay the rent and the school and was constantly saving any money she had left over in case of an emergency but... even then it was not enough to pay anyone the wage of a martial artist sensei. It hadn't... why hadn't she thought about it? She was so used to being taught by her dad , it hadn't occurred to her that he would need something beyond – because she was asking.

"I... I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I have nothing to offer in return."

She watched his lips twist into a smirk at her admission.

"Well then, student, let's start from the beginning and move our way up."

She stared at him.

"But I just told you I can't pay you. So why...?"

"You're a martial artist. You have potential, a blind duck can see that. All people around here care for is Karate and Kendo. I will teach you. In return, you will listen and you will do as I say."

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Akane sternly reminded herself as she was tempted to question him further.

"Of course, sensei."

Stepping back, she moved through her kata, one after another until he stopped her, looking intrigued.

"Huh. Punch and kick that tree." He quickly affixed a band around the tree to show her where he wanted her to hit. Confused but obedient, Akane followed his instructions. After another ten minutes he finally stopped her. Sweat pouring, Akane looked up at the old man, awaiting her next instructions.

"Now stop channelling ki into your arms and legs and hit the tree again."

Akane frowned whilst he gestured for her to get on with it.

"I am sorry, but I wasn't aware I was channelling ki."

Green eyes widened before the man broke out into laughter.

"Right, good one."

Akane stared at him, aghast. This was her teacher? At her continued refusal to do as he said, he finally frowned.

"Seriously? You are doing it subconsciously... huh. Interesting."

Slowly, Akane felt anger consuming her again. She hated people that didn't take her seriously. Clenching her fists she kept her mouth shut.

"My name is Takeshi Matsumoto. You will simply call me sensei during these sessions. Now, at what times are you available to train?"

Dutifully, Akane recited her schedule to her new sensei, still unable to believe her luck. She had looked at the Dojo in town, but not only had it been expensive but she had not really liked the teacher as he had focused on one specific kind of martial art – Karate, as Takeshi had said.

Now it looked as though she would be trained for free. She could, of course, not judge Takeshi's actual level of skill but so far all his tips had helped her improve so she was fairly certain that he would be able to help her improve.

"We'll talk tomorrow here and I will have something for you."

Surprised, Akane nodded and then bowed to her new sensei before leaving her training ground – a small clearing in the trees just a short walk away from town.

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"What is that?" Baffled, Akane found herself staring at the ankle and wrist weights her sensei was holding out to her.

He smirked – infuriating, she found – at her expression, eyebrows raised.

"I mean, I know these are ankle weights but..." She held the one in her hand back out to him. "these weigh nothing! Well, not nothing-nothing but they can't possibly be weighted."

He grinned at her.

"You are correct. Your punches and kicks are quite strong, but your body itself is lacking from what it could be. You have, subconsciously from what you have told me, infused your body with ki. It means that it was compensating when your body could not perform – which also means that training will be useless unless we absolutely exhaust you. Don't worry, I plan on doing that as well, but most importantly – you will wear these ankle and wrist weights. They will be weighted heavily so that when you go to school or your jobs you will be training. It will help compensate for the lack of time we have to train you. These weights also block ki – which means that you will finally be training your body."

He easily affixed the weights to her and suddenly she could feel what she had mostly felt from Ranma and Happosai before – the energy seemed to suddenly coalesce around Takeshi and abruptly she felt her arms give way and her knees bend with the unexpected weight as he touched her.

And whilst Akane had known about ki she had never realised how much she had used it. The fatigue suddenly pulled and her muscles hurt. It was... new. And despite the pain, Akane found herself smiling, happy at the sudden feeling that she would now improve.

Eyes shining, she turned back to her sensei, bowing.

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Takeshi was entirely correct when he'd said that it wouldn't be fast.

She was still cursing the weights– now, after nearly three weeks, it had felt as though her body finally adjusted to the weights. Akane, pleased at her progress and proud, had informed her sensei who simply dismissively told her that he'd expected this over a week ago before increasing the weight again.

Cursing, Akane pulled herself off the ground, arms and legs moving smoothly into a defensive position and faced her sensei for another sparring session.

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Everyone knew about the Yakuza, obviously, but still she had been taken by surprise when they turned up at the restaurant during her shift. Nerima, thanks to its chaos and highly skilled martial artists, had been safe from them with the exemption of the odd idiot trying.

It had never occurred to her that they would be active in such a small town.

"Please, we don't have the money. There were less people than we..."

The man simply glared and asked if an example needed to be made. Decision made, Akane took off her apron and moved in front of the manager. She, at least, could protect herself.

"I think you may wish to leave now, sir. You are not welcome in this establishment."

She glared up at the man who laughed in her face. Her dad had to do something similar once when they had all gone out together.

"This town is under my protection."

"Oh, and what is a little slip of a girl like you going to do when I-"

Her body moved before her brain had even received the message that he was holding a knife in his hands. His wrist was easily twisted in a way that would automatically spasm and loosen the muscles, allowing the knife to hit the floor a split second later. By that time she had him up on the wall already, arm on his throat and holding his legs still with her own.

"Now, what is going to happen is that you will report back that this town will be left alone. I will fight, if need be but would rather prefer to avoid any such crude displays of strength. Are we clear?"

She watched as his eyes narrowed and so she took a final step until she could whisper in his ear.

"I am from Nerima. I have fought a demi-god and Orochi's, martial artists more powerful than you could ever imagine and Amazonian warriors.I will ask you only once more – are we clear?"

Satisfied she watched as he nodded his acquiescence and let him go, stepping back.

"We will cancel all business within this town."

She nodded and watched him go, knowing that at the very least they were bound by honour to keep their word. To everyone's surprise she mutely put her apron back on and kept cleaning the tables under the astonished eyes of her colleagues and her manager.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Graduation came and went. Akane didn't have much time to ponder missing her family, missing Ranma and wondering about their graduation as her martial arts training increased to the point where she simply collapsed at home, unconscious.

There were moments where she wanted to give up, return to Nerima, but then her sensei would smirk at her and one insult later she'd somehow find the strength to get back up and attack again.

Without the additional need to pay for school, she quit her waitressing job. Her work at the restaurant had allowed her to be promoted to Assistant Manager despite her initial problems with the manager. Her rate of pay at the library had also increased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After one year of training her body, her balance and making her redo endless kata until he deemed her perfect, she finally started learning about ki. It was rather amazing when she suddenly noticed this well of blinding, hot power inside herself. Momentarily she felt invincible – just before her sensei whacked her over the head and lectured her that ki would not be giving her situational awareness and could she please finally pay attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane watched as her friends went to college, meeting them for movie nights and similar excursions every now and then, but not having the close bond she used to have with Sayuri or Yuka. There were the occasional, stupid boys that asked her out. She declined all of them, not having time for romance and her feelings for Ranma were too strong for her to contemplate dating someone else.

She loved living in such a small place, really. Everyone knew her and she was on a first name basis with most people. Always willing to help people, Akane had become quite well known in the town for assisting if someone needed help – even with the more physical tasks.

And to her surprise she enjoyed it. Walking through town, people greeted her with smiles and waves and it gave rise to a small amount of pleasure each time, thinking of how similar this was to how people treated Kasumi.

Smiling brightly, she moved to meet her sensei for more training.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During holidays, her sensei took her on training trips. Quickly her skin was mottled with new bruises over old bruises as he sparred with her relentlessly, critiquing and fighting her. None of her friends ever understood it but for Akane there was an odd pleasure connected to it when she looked at the cuts and bruises at night. For once, someone was taking her seriously. For once, someone was fighting her.

Her dad had stopped once she started to grow into a more womanly figure – which, as her sensei had asserted, had been the main issue for her. Her stances were those of a girl who did not have breasts to move around with and her balance had been off as it had never occurred to her that she needed to change as her body did.

Some days she found herself running for hours, heavy weights on both arms and legs, with surprise attacks from her sensei as she ran up and down mountains. It was difficult at first – accounting for the different terrain under her feet but finally she learnt what Ranma had learnt as a child from his father. Having lived in a city she had never been forced to take such detailed account of the ground beneath her feet as she expected solid asphalt. Now, fighting on loose rocks, jumping over mud, sand and rivers she gained an appreciation for the amount of observational skill Ranma had been taught and was using intuitively.

Her nights usually ended in meditative practice in an attempt to teach her to control her temper and realise her actual emotions. It was hard and she attacked him more than once, angry and fuming. And every time, Takeshi beat her soundly, pointing out all the time why it was stupid to attack in a fury.

Akane couldn't suppress the smile occasionally though, knowing that she was improving by leaps and bounds. Knowledge that Ranma had, that she should have had, was finally asserting itself and she was becoming a more flexible, better martial artist for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryoga, of all people, had nearly found her four times already. The last time she had only managed to escape because she had finally accomplished the Umi-Sen Ken. Ithad been hard – she was anything but emotionless – but worthwhile. Ranma had a habit of discussing martial arts techniques with her when stuck for anything else to say – but this one was one of the only techniques she'd ever picked up as something she COULD learn herself. The other three times she'd hid in the women's hot bath for two hours, once in a garbage truck for four hours and the last time in a closet with a boy; needless to say said boy – who had jumped in when he had seen what she was doing – had been resting on the floor, unconscious for most of the time.

The fifth time she saw him, she had been ready to beat Ryoga into the ground. A small black pig had been brought in by the chef at the restaurant and before she could act, it had been in touch with the hot water and returned into his male, human form.

The chef, needless to say, had been flabbergasted and out of commission for the rest of the day, whilst Akane had hidden herself in the freezer as Ryoga ran out of the restaurant, ruthlessly channelling her anger as her sensei had taught her for fear of raising an angry aura that would alert Ryoga to her presence.

All of Ranma's comments about pig-boy and calling Ryoga P-Chan and vice versa suddenly made sense.

That night, during her training, she had been furious, using her ki to augment her attacks subconsciously again instead of consciously as Takeshi had been teaching her.

Needless to say, she was exhausted within a short space of time and thoroughly beaten. Takeshi told her off for her lack of focus before listening as she explained about Ryoga, the pig, sleeping in her bed and her fiancé not letting her know about it.

It took another two weeks after that incident before Akane admitted that maybe – maybe! – Ranma had not been a pervert but trying to turn the pig back when he'd been in her room and stopped her from nuzzling the pig into her bosom.

Ryoga, however, was not so easily forgiven. Honourless, soulless, perverted bastard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After three and a half years, Akane admitted to herself that she had made a mistake in leaving Nerima. Whilst she had loved the training she had received here, she should have talked to to Ranma, to Happosai, to her family. What she had done was stupid, thoughtless and impulsive.

They might have found a way to have Shampoo exiled back to Japan before she could do anything. Even if there was still a risk, Ranma and her father as well as herself could've minimised that risk.

Now, however, she knew she was above Shampoo's level. She was not at Ranma's level and probably wouldn't ever be unless he taught her directly the different techniques, but at least Shampoo could be beat. When she still lived in Nerima, she knew that Shampoo hadn't trained unless it had been particularly necessary for a fight. Shampoo loved winning – not fighting. Her love was not martial arts, but rather it had been something she excelled at and therefore enjoyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After another half a year of sorting everything out, she finally gathered her belongings, giving tearful goodbyes to her friends.

"We'll write. And call."

"We'll miss you!"

Despite the heart ache of leaving yet another lot of friends that she had made, she couldn't suppress the excitement of going back home. To her life, her family, her friends. God, she'd missed them.

"I'll miss you all as well. And I promise I will write and let you know how everything is going."

Stepping away from them she moved towards her sensei, bowing low.

"Thank you, again, sensei, for all that you have taught me. I have nothing to offer you in return but my gratitude. You took the time to train me when you didn't need to."

He gave her a mischievous smirk, green eyes sparkling, hand smoothing down his grey hair.

"Nah. Needed a challenge – whole damn town's just a bunch of wusses."

She grinned back at him. He'd been a good listener and the only one in town who knew her and Ranma's exploits – as well as her real name.

"I'll visit you, so you better keep up your training. Maybe I'll even let you beat me once or twice."

"Hah! I am beating you in at least 50% of our matches now, sensei. Be careful that I don't become better than you."

His smirk widened.

"I'll look forward to our next meeting then, kiddo. Now, this is for you."

To her surprise she found herself with the ankle weights, wrist weights and weighted gis he'd trainer her with.

"You know how to infuse them with ki now to make these useable... so, since I don't plan on taking on another student, these are all yours."

Akane's eyes widened and she smiled widely at him, aware that he was blushing. Takeshi, she had quickly found out during her training, was a strict and hard teacher, but he was also very passionate about the arts and he'd developed a soft spot for her, in particular, as she had found out. More often than not he'd dubbed her as the granddaughter that he never had.

Wiping away tears, she quickly accepted the gifts, bowing again to her teacher.

"I will make you proud."

"I don't doubt that."

Abandoning her reservations she flew into his arms for a quick hug.

"I will miss you, sensei. Please come and visit me soon."

His hand patted her on the head before pushing her away, gently. With a nod, they separated and she stepped out of her apartment building. To her astonishment she was faced with over half the town assembled – people she'd helped, people who had helped her, friends, acquaintances.

Her smile lit up her entire face at the warmth that was burning in her heart at the love these people had shown her.

"Here, from us. As a small thank you."

She accepted the gift with a bow from the mayor, looking closer at what she held in her hands. To her surprise it was a wooden, hand carved copy of the town. Her eyes watered again at the thought how much time and effort must have gone into carving to this level of detail. It took her a moment to realise that there was something carved into where her flat was. Protector.

The front of the town had "Dedicated to Setsuko Shimizo, servant and protector" on it. She blushed and bowed again.

"Thank you so very much for this."

An elderly woman stepped forwards. "And this is so you'll never forget us."

This gift was a photo album containing stolen moments between her and the other villagers.

Smiling widely, Akane expressed her thanks to the town. It really had been a wonderful four years, despite the loss. And, she recognised, she wouldn't change it for the world. It had given her time to grow up, to mature, to become a better person and a better martial artist.

Despite the loss of her family, she was happy. And even that would hopefully soon be rectified.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After four long year, Akane stepped off the train at the very familiar station.

With detached amusement she noticed that he palms were sweating with her nervousness, despite her trying to slip into a state of calm and peace.

She allowed herself a look in the mirror inside the ladies bathrooms, hoping to straighten out anything awry with her appearance.

She was wearing a formal kimono, specifically designed to show her deferment to her father and the Tendo family as well as her status as a martial artist. Her hair had regained its original hue, growing to just past her shoulder blades. She had asked Sakura – who was now working as a hair stylist, to put her hair up in a complicated braid, leaving her neck bare.

Her face had lost the last of the baby fat and her body had gained in maturity – her bosom had grown and her curves had become more pronounced as her body gained muscles, strength and fitness. She was radiating vitality and glowing with health, something she was very proud of after having lived on her own for so long. There was a healthy blush on her cheeks and a small amount of eyeshadow and mascara on her eyes.

Nodding firmly at herself she steeled her resolve and undertook the short walk to her family home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane was well aware that her sensei's sense of humour had rubbed off on her, but never more so then when she had to hold back the words "Honey, I'm home" as she knocked on her family's door.

She was not surprised when Kasumi answered the door – though she was surprised at the evidence of her pregnancy. For a moment she was speechless, wondering whom Kasumi had married, before shaking off the stray thought.

"Ca- Can I help you?"

Kasumi's voice was hesitant, obviously having remarked on the similarities but uncertain about her actual identity as she was also sufficiently different.

"Onee-san, please allow me to see father to ask his forgiveness."

"Oh my."

Tears sprang into the eyes of her older sister and she clamped a hand in front of her mouth to stifle a sob. Akane resisted the urge to hug her as Kasumi whispered

"Akane..."

Nodding, Akane confirmed her identity and watched as Kasumi pulled herself together, both knowing that the ritual would need to take place before she would be able to lose the tight grip she had on her emotions.

"Father, would you please come to the dining room?"

Akane followed her sister after taking off her shoes, feet intuitively guiding her down the familiar path.

The man sitting at the table made her momentarily almost recoil.

Her father had grown haggard, looking exhausted and tired. He'd lost weight and looked the way he had shortly after her mother had died.

"Of course, Kasumi, who is it?"

Akane stepped forward, smoothly sinking into a dogeza in front of him, her head touching the floor.

"Father, I am sorry for I have shamed you and our family's honour. Please forgive me. I can only plead childish ignorance and the belief that what I was doing was for the best."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soun Tendo started, looking at the beautiful woman that entered – almost a carbon copy of his late wife before she sank into a dogeza in front of him.

When her words hit, he couldn't breathe. His Akane, his daughter, his youngest... she'd finally come home to him. She had returned. Safe, sound and healthy.

He felt the nearly overwhelming urge to embrace her and cry over the lost years, but held back. She had done him the honour of going through their family rites, he needed to respond in kind.

"Akane, beloved daughter, I accept your apology. You have returned to your family home and that is all that matters. Tomorrow we shall ensure your family name is returned to you and your name added back to the family scrolls. Our family honour is restored now that you have returned to us."

Unable to hold back tears, Akane launched herself from the floor directly into his arms, crying. She had hoped, thought, that she'd be welcome back but there had been that insistent, niggling fear that said she might not be. The relief and love coursing through her only made her tighten her hug – though she noticed that her father's hug was no less tight than her own.

Kasumi sank to the floor beside and Akane welcomed her into the hug, enjoying the feeling of family that she had missed out on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a while before everyone had calmed down enough.

"I... Where is everyone?"

Kasumi sent her a mischievous smile.

"You mean Ranma, specifically, I take it?"

Akane shook her head.

"Him as well, of course, but also Nabiki, Genma and Nodoka."

Kasumi nodded in acknowledgement whilst pouring her some tea.

"Genma and Nodoka are living together in her repaired home. You will be pleased to know that the contract about committing Seppuku has been torn up. Nabiki is attending a University in Kyoto – all the money she... accumulated over the years has finally come in handy. This is her final year and she has already secured herself a position in a well paying firm for next year. And Ranma... well, he is of course travelling far and wide, looking for you."

Eyes widening and heart racing she stared at her sister. Four years... and he was still searching for her?

"Don't worry. I have his phone number. He will be back before you know it. By the way, Cologne and Shampoo are back in China. Shampoo dishonoured herself by even threatening to fight people who are neither in her way nor martial artists. And when Cologne heard what really happened in China – when she had you in doll form... Well, let's just say she wasn't best pleased with her granddaughter. Nonetheless, she has asked to be informed when you return. Mousse is travelling by himself as well trying to find you, hoping it will not only curry favour with the elders back in China but also with Ranma."

Akane was flabbergasted. All this time, worrying, training... for nothing?

"Apparently Cologne already had orders to go back to China – so did Shampoo. Her kiss of marriage would have been dissolved as the elders had decided that someone who kills a demi-god – or whatever Saffron was – is not someone they want to have in their village; particularly if he doesn't want to be there. Shampoo was supposed to tell you and Ranma this – instead she obviously thought of one last ploy that she hoped would convince Ranma to go with her. Needless to say, it backfired spectacularly. Ukyo has also given up on Ranma and they are now only close friends.

Akane was still staring into space, only vaguely registering Kasumi on the phone.

Was this real? So many months and years... and suddenly all her problems were resolved. Ukyo wasn't engaged and simply a friend now. Shampoo was back in China as was Cologne... What had the world come to? How come everything suddenly resolved itself as soon as she left? What if she had waited but a week or two more?

Akane giggled, feeling as though she may descend into hysterics at any moment at the sheer possibility. She knew the last four years had been interesting, enjoyable and she wouldn't trade them for the world as she had met so many people she now loved... But still, the sheer idea of how simply waiting another week could have resolved all her problems, was mind boggling.

"It is Dr. Tofu."

Akane looked at her father in surprise at his words.

"Sorry?"

"Kasumi married Dr. Tofu. This is their first child on the way."

Akane smiled widely. She was happy for her sister – it looked as though Dr. Tofu was finally able to string more than one word together in her sisters' presence.

"Would you like to get some sleep?"

Akane looked up and smiled her relief. The train journeys had been exhausting. It had been a constant rush from one to the next and then sitting next to crying babies and drunks – okay, that had been on one train but still.

"Yes, please, Father. I am afraid the way here has exhausted me. I will tell you all tomorrow though."

"Your room is still just as you left it."

Happy, Akane hugged her father and said her goodnights, before hugging Kasumi who was still on the phone, careful not to hug her stomach tightly.

It was... odd to enter her own bedroom again after so much time away. It seemed smaller somehow. Shaking her head, Akane quickly placed her belonging to the side before taking the wrist and ankle bracelets out, fastening them to her body and allowing her ki to activate them and regulate the weight setting.

She put her model town on her desk along with the photo album. Opening her back pack she retrieved her nightdress, slipping it over before sinking into her bed with a slight moan at the comfort. Akane was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma had barely let Kasumi finish before making his way to the closest train station for the Shinkansen. He'd been in Osaka again, hoping to pick another trail up here.

He still couldn't believe it. Akane was back. After four long years, wondering where she was, how she was... she was back. Was she okay? Healthy? Happy?

A part of him hoped she had been unhappy because he hadn't been there, though he quickly told himself he was being an idiot. The next moment he couldn't help but wonder if she'd found someone who MADE her happy, as she had wanted for him. His hands automatically reached for the letter safely tucked into his inside pocket – a sort of talisman and reminder for him, of her love for him.

He fidgeted in his seat, uneasy. Had she changed? Was she still... his Akane? His tomboy? God...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma was the first to leave the train, though most people only saw a blur as he left the station in record time, aiming for the Tendo house. It was late at night and he noticed as he was jumping from roof to roof, closing in on his goal, that the lights in the household were out. Taking a gamble, Ranma's feet softly landed on the roof above her bedroom, emotions running havoc. He needed to assure himself that it was really her, that she was okay.

As he had done over four years ago, he slipped in through the window, only to come face to face with an Akane who was in a fighting stance in front of him.

He couldn't help but stare at her as she fluently and smoothly moved back into a relaxed position once she'd recognised him.

Akane.

Black-blue hair falling down to her shoulders, soft brown eyes, charming smile and a body... Ranma's eyes automatically scanned her form, the satin nightdress clinging slightly to her curves and allowing a glimpse of the swell of her breasts even as slender, long legs stretched out beneath them. Her form was filled with lean muscles and he knew even if he hadn't seen her fighting form that she had kept up her martial arts training.

Heart beating fast, he stepped closer.

"'Kane..." Four years ago he would have been bothered by the hoarse, raw quality in his voice as he said her name but now it … she was all that mattered. And she was here.

"Ranma."

Her eyes were on his, sparkling, dancing with happiness and affection. To his surprise she was the one who took the last step, closing the distance between their bodies as her arms went around him in a hug.

"I've missed you."

He could smell her, the same soft, vanilla smell that was Akane, as well as some flowery notes from her perfume. His heart beat increased, noticing how perfectly her body fitted to his, how different it felt to have her soft breasts pressed against his hard chest, how her breath on his neck was electrifying his body.

"I missed you too, 'kane. Now can I just say what a stupid idiot you were! I mean why wouldn't you talk to me! Why wouldn't you just say something! This whole mess-"

Her lips pressed against his and after the moment it took him to realise that this was – finally – Akane, kissing him, he closed his eyes, relinquishing his hold on the anger he'd had inside him, allowing the sensations to take over. The tension in his body disappeared as he slowly answered her kiss, lips moulding together, tasting, testing, trying to convey years of pent-up love, passion and longing. His blood sang, his heart raced and his mind was blank. There was only Akane. He pressed her body closer to his, needing to feel her, eager to eliminate all barriers between them and it was only when he heard her soft moan that Ranma regained his senses and slowly separated himself from the woman in his arms.

Hair mussed, eyes bright and lips swollen – Akane was a sight that made his heart jump and want to go straight back to kissing her. He watched tenderly as she blinked at him twice before regaining her thoughts. The blush on her cheeks only made her prettier.

"What was that?" Ranma looked at her, looking for an answer.

"I have waited six years to do that. And when I heard that you were still looking for me, I presumed that you love me as well. Was I wrong?"

"No, you weren't. I love you, Akane. I'm just... It's been four years. I have looked and searched. You just... You left. You didn't trust me. It ... hurt."

Admitting it out loud was harder than admitting it to yourself, Ranma realised.

"I love you too, Ranma. And I am so sorry for what I did to you. I honestly saw no other option at the time. I now realise that I should have asked for help. It had nothing to do with trusting you and all to do with thinking that I had thought of all possible scenarios. I am sorry for hurting you. That was never my intention."

Ranma nodded, unwilling to relinquish his hold on his fiancée, even though she had tried to give him his space and move back. Though, he supposed, technically not his fiancée anymore.

"Can I stay here tonight? I don't want to..."

Akane nodded, understanding his unspoken words. She needed the reassurance too, that he was here – with her.

Her hand slipped into his as she pulled him towards the bed.

"Wha- I meant the floor…"

Akane smiled at the blush in his face and then giggled slightly at his expression.

"I would like to hold you tonight, Ranma. I... It's been a long time. I need you here, with me, in bed, if that's alright with you."

She watched as his eyes automatically dropped down lower her body before shooting back up to her eyes, face flushed. He nodded slightly and quickly took off his shirt and trousers – leaving him in boxers and a tank top as he curled up around her. Soon, Akane found herself once again folded within Ranma's protective embrace, breathing evening out as she fell asleep.

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So, another two chapters at least after this…

Please review!


	3. Life without Akane

Dedicated to my incredibly fast beta-reader **pursemonger**! Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

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Returning from three false leads, Ranma somehow found himself back in her bedroom. How had this happened?

It was just too hard to grasp; all these years, all the attempted – and occasional successful kidnappings – even rescuing her in another country.] And now she left of her own volition? Why? He'd always protected, always saved her. Did she not trust him? Was it because he'd been too late in China? Did she... not think he could protect her sisters?

Furious, Ranma kicked her wardrobe, staring at the empty room. This couldn't be for real, right? She'd turn back up tomorrow, calling him a dummy or pervert and he'd say she was uncute and a tomboy.

Ranma's smile was bitter. He knew better than that. When Akane made a decision, come hell or high water there'd be no way she'd back down.

Swearing to himself, he hopped onto the roof, leaning back to watch the stars. Was she also watching the stars? Was she thinking of him?

He sighed. Where was she? He had never even had an indication of her planning... that made him shoot up, eyes wide. Hold on – had she not gone to the school office and the doctors? And... she'd gone to the Nekohanten.

Eyes narrowing, teeth gritting Ranma practically flew over the roofs to get to Cologne and Shampoo. They had better hope they had nothing to with this. He wasn't sure how much he could restrain himself against them.

"Old Ghoul!"

He didn't care that it was two in the morning as he broke down the door, his ki materialising in a red aura of anger around him. God, they had better hope for their lives that they were not the ones to sent Akane away.

"AIYAH! AIREN!"

He caught Shampoo mid-air by the throat and pushed her up against the wall.

"You had better hope that this was not your plan, Shampoo, or so help me god..."

He watched as her face paled and paused. Surely not...? Shampoo had never actually gone out and...

His thoughts were interrupted when Cologne and Mousse entered the room. The old hag just raised an eyebrow at him, calm despite him holding her granddaughter by the throat Mousse was looking at one of the figurines off to the side, glasses forgotten somewhere.

"Son-in-law... I take it this is not a courtesy visit?"

Cologne looked at Ranma – it wasn't hard to see that he was furious. She hadn't heard much about China, but she was certain that an enraged ex-son-in-law was not what she wanted. Something was horribly wrong. She only hoped Shampoo hadn't done anything stupid.

"Old hag, tell me you had nothing to do with this or..."

Even he didn't know what he'd do, all he was certain of was that it wouldn't be good. Akane had always been good at restraining him and now... now she wasn't here. His grip on Shampoo's throat tightened minutely and he could hear her strangled gasp. For a moment he felt a sick satisfaction pool in his stomach before he reminded himself that she had not necessarily done anything yet. He loosened his grip just slightly – enough to keep her in place but also let her breathe.

Eyes focused intently on Cologne, he noticed her honest confusion. Mousse showed the same expression, though Ranma couldn't be sure if that had to do with him hugging the chair or his actual words. Stupid duck boy and his refusal to wear glasses.

"Akane is gone, Cologne. She was threatened with the lives of her sisters. I expect you would not sink to something so dishonourable, so despicable as to threaten to helpless girls."

The old hag looked at him in anger.

"Son-in-law, sometimes you are very stupid. Amazonian law is very clear – everything is about honour. No one would dare do something like that unless they were your fiancées and even then it is dishonour to kill a foe unable to defend themselves. It would show only the warriors weakness, not their strength."

Ranma nodded at her. Cologne was not involved at the very least, if there even was something to be involved in.

"Mousse? I know you took the definition of honour a bit lighter in your earlier days..."

Duck boy put on his glasses and focused in on him.

"I have learnt my lesson. Even for Shampoo, I would never attack defenceless girls."

After another moment, Ranma nodded firmly at the other boy, knowing it was the truth. They were rarely honest with one another, but everyone knew not to push him if Akane was involved. It was an unspoken rule.

"That leaves you, Shampoo... I know your definition of honour is rather flexible, so tell me... would you or did you at threaten to go against Akane's sisters if she did not leave?"

"Now, son-in-law, that is out of line. You are smearing her honour by saying she does not abide by it. She has, after all, never dishonoured herself and to say she did is unjust. You will have to face me if you persist with that line of accusation."

Cold blue eyes turned back onto the Cologne, showing only icy anger and hatred.

"Oh yeah? I thought you said fighting a foe incapable of defending themselves is dishonourable. So how do you defend what she did to Akane in China?"

Cologne swallowed, hoping against everything that her granddaughter had not done something irredeemably stupid. Surely not. She was a good honourable warrior... Most times. She had to be brought back to her senses a couple of times, but surely not...

"What did she do?"

A quick glare from her grandmother silenced Shampoo's attempt to protest, but Cologne had already felt her heart sink at the guilty expression on her face.

Ranma looked at Cologne in confusion before glancing at Shampoo, realisation spreading through him. She had known that her granddaughter hadn't told her the entire story – but surely she wouldn't go that far?

"Akane was shrunk to doll size, I figure you know that much, right, old ghoul?"

At her silent nod he continued.

"Your granddaughter said that she would kill Akane – who was a doll in her hands, unable to move or defend herself at all – unless I slept with her. Though admittedly I think she wanted to kill me afterwards anyway along with herself."

Cologne's eyes widened and she looked over to Shampoo. It was a great dishonour for a trained warrior to fight someone or kill someone unable to defend themselves – that was the entire reason for the Amazonian culture, that woman had been tired of being unable to defend themselves and be the victims. No one would ... no one, especially her own granddaughter, would...

She stared at the expression on Shampoo's face. It wasn't hard to read – not only was it the truth but she didn't regret it. She didn't see the wrongness of her own actions.

Cologne's eyes found Ranma's. It was easy to see just how angry he was. By god, she hoped her granddaughter had not done what he suggested now, though she found herself unable to put it past her. If Shampoo was willing to threaten an Akane who was merely a doll, she would have no problem doing this.

Ranma turned again to the girl beside him, glacial expression on his face. Honour, for him, went above all else.

"Sooo... Shampoo..."

"Wo ai ni, Airen."

Ranma saw the desperate expression on her face at her declaration of love. At one time he had easily been swayed by it – his dad had more been one for insults and punches rather than affection. He'd adapted. But still, any declarations of love still used to send his heart racing and him to be embarrassed. No more. He could feel himself sneer at her – this was not love. And all he could feel within himself was disgust at her – even if she had not taken this last step, her outer beauty had faded beneath her behaviour, views and personality. This was not someone he would ever want to have anything more to do with.

"Did you? C'mon, tell me. Did you threaten Akane? I mean, she's just an unsexy tomboyish kitchen wrecker to you, isn't she? Did you think you couldn't beat her? Did you feel threatened? Were you afraid?"

"I no afraid of kitchen wrecker."

"Uh huh. Is that why you threatened her? Threatened her sisters? Did you not see any other solution? Did you think I might choose her over you? Well, I have news for you. I would choose every single woman on this planet over you. I'd rather die a eunuch before I touched you."

"NO!", Shampoo looked at him, aghast. "But I make kitchen wrecker go! You love me now, yes? I sexy. Have lots of fun, yes?"

Barely able to control himself, Ranma punched the wall beside her face – it cracked. Shampoo. It had been Shampoo. She'd... made Akane leave. Because of her own pettiness...

"RANMA! I – we'll take her back to China. She'll be punished. You will never have to see her again. Please."

Cologne watched the strong man that could have, at one point, become her son-in-law as he visibly pulled himself back under control, unable to help the short burst of admiration. This man had killed a demi-god and here her granddaughter was doing her very best to push him and yet he resisted.

He never needed to know that this had been their plan all along – she had no doubts that Shampoo had never told him despite her instructions.

His eyes found hers and his nod was firm, cold, controlled.

"Make sure of it, Cologne. Or I won't guarantee anything."

Cologne smirked slightly.

"Despite what you think of us, Ranma, we are not foolish enough to want you angered at an entire Amazonian tribe. We like to think that we have continued our existence because we are wise – in spite of my great-granddaughter's bad examples... You have my word. She will be punished and she will not ever set foot on Japan again."

"Bu-"

Before her foolish granddaughter could do something that would make the tight control the man had, snap, she swiftly touched the pressure points on her that forced her into unconsciousness. Ranma moved back swiftly so as to not find himself catching her before she hit the ground.

He sent Cologne a measured glance.

"Well, I'd say it's been fun, old ghoul, but that'd be a lie." He paused, before sighing, anger dissipating as he contemplated his next steps.

"It would... go a long way towards alleviating my anger with the Amazons, should you help with the search for Akane. But don't approach her; just... let me know if you find her."

It wasn't hard to read his eyes and Cologne wondered, again, as she had so often over the last two years how he and Akane had still not confessed to one another or at least noticed the emotions so clear on his face, his words and his actions. Shaking her head, she dislodged the thought; it didn't matter, after all.

"We will."

She watched as he left the Nekohanten and only paused for a moment longer before she started instructing Mousse. They needed to leave, right now. There was a flight in the morning – earlier than planned, but Shampoo needed to be far away from here before Ranma decided he wanted revenge.

And besides, Cologne wasn't so sure she wouldn't help him if he did. In all her time of living... she had never been so... angry and disappointed. She was furious. Shampoo had always toed the line, but to cross over so far – she'd make sure that she would not be allowed to leave the village for a couple of decades for this transgression. That was if she wasn't put to death for the danger she'd put the village in.

Cologne sighed. Foolish, foolish girl.

Now, to deal with Mousse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the night, Ranma spent tirelessly training in the dojo. His anger only fuelled his energy as he ran through kata after kata, technique after technique at neck breaking speeds. He could still feel the anger within him, the desire to make Shampoo suffer as she had made Akane suffer, the desire to punch and hit until she was spitting blood.

Gritting his teeth, Ranma reminded himself of his honour as he flew through one of the more complicated, aerial manoeuvres.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No one at school was particularly surprised that Akane and Ranma were once again missing. It had become somewhat the norm for the couple to disappear at odd intervals due to ... freak occurrences. What did surprise everyone was when Ranma walked in, alone, after a month.

Sayuri and Yuka, about to go see him and enquire about Akane, were taken aback when Ranma walked directly towards them instead of his own friends.

"These are for you – from Akane."

Yuka stared at the two letters in surprise. What...?

"Now, Shampoo made Akane run. She is missing. Do you know anything – anything at all – about where she might have gone? We can't find her."

Sayuri gaped at him, as did Yuka. Akane... missing? But...

"NOW!" , his temper flared. They were hesitating – they knew something. Lack of sleep and exhaustion was pulling on Ranma and he was still fuming with his father and Soun for forcing him to go back to school instead of keeping up the search for his fiancée.

The table cracked under his hands and Yuka was barely able to rescue the two letters. They watched as Ranma took a step back, trying to regain control. Sayuri spoke up.

"I am sorry... we don't know anything beyond the fact that Shampoo talked to her. I... I didn't even know she was missing."

Ranma grimaced, anger gone the moment he realized they were telling the truth. He forced down the sigh at this latest fiasco – he'd become more short-tempered and angry ever since her disappearance. Fixing an apologetic smile on his face he looked back at the two girls.

"I am sorry for the table."

"What's a broken table between friends?" Yuka knew her smile was half-hearted at best but she could tell that Ranma appreciated the effort.

"Will you tell me... if there's anything in her letter? Anything at all that might help find her."

For the first time, Sayuri looked at her best friend's fiancé. His eyes were darker with shadows beneath them, speaking of the lack of sleep. His usually relaxed frame was gone – his entire body was tensed and she could see his muscles bulging occasionally, as he fisted his hands. She hoped they'd find her soon.

"Of course."

He nodded, sharply, before sitting down at his desk and sending an icy glare at one of the girls as she made to sit down next to him – at Akane's desk. Blanching, the poor creature scurried to the back of the classroom for a seat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ucchan..."

"Ran-chan!" Ukyo's cry of joy did bring a small smile to his lips as he sat down at the counter, watching as she whipped up his favourite Okonomiyaki.

"Come to visit me?"

"Of sorts. Akane is gone. And since you are friends, sort of, I thought she might have told you... where she went?"

Ukyo's mouth dried and it took her a moment to remember the Okonomiyaki in front of her before she ruined it.

"Akane's gone?"

With a sigh, Ranma relayed the entire story. Ukyo stared at him, surprised not so much by the upset in his voice – everyone knew there was _something_ between him and Akane – but by the way he only finished half her food. She could easily see the lack of sleep and exhaustion tugging at him, the continuous anger in his expression and movements and sighed.

Sometimes she really regretted how easy it was to like Akane. Even she was worried now at her disappearance instead of rejoicing in the success of having f her gone.

Too damn soft hearted, she admonished herself.

"No, I don't know anything. Sorry Sugar."

She watched as the man she loved folded in on himself, energy dissipating as if it had never been there in the first place.

Even Ukyo knew her smile was fake but she couldn't help herself, she had to try at least.

"Hey – that means I'm the only fiancée left what with Shampoo back in China. Does that mean you will marry me now, Ran-chan? And honour your fathers promise?"

He looked up, eyes bleak, expression blank and paused, before shaking his head slowly. Ranma wasn't smiling, the way she'd expected him to if he ever confessed his feelings for her or Akane to her. She'd always imagined him happy – happy with Akane mainly, Shampoo occasionally, and coming to tell her... Yet this... there was only bitterness in his face.

"Ucchan, I don't care. I don't care if I still had a hundred other fiancées and Akane and I had never been engaged to each other in the first place. Don't you get it? It's her. It's always been her. And now... she's gone."

His hands turned into a fist, anger coursing through him at the memory before it left just as quickly. He'd used up his anger over the last month. At the moment all he could feel was sadness at her memory and disappointment with himself for not having found her yet. He'd tracked enemies faster than he'd tracked her – though, admittedly, none of them had ever made much of an effort to hide their tracks as well as she had.

"Sorry, Ucchan. I ... needed a friend. Someone to understand. I didn't mean to hurt you as well."

She wanted to stop him – really, she did. But another part of her wanted to curse him and kick him until he cried for mercy. Instead she watched him leave her restaurant. Ukyo found herself unaware of how or when exactly she'd turned off her grill or when she put the closed sign on the restaurant.

By the time she came back to herself, Konatsu held her in his arms and she was sobbing in great heaving, heart wrenching cries. A part of her had known, always known, that Akane was her biggest threat, that Ranma felt more for her than for Ukyo herself but... she hadn't wanted to acknowledge it, hadn't wanted to give up without a fight.

She'd told herself that until Ranma came to her and told her, face to face, there was no way she would give up on him. She'd fight. Now... now that he had, it was hard to admit defeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After graduation, Ranma went searching full time instead of only on weekends. He searched high and low – through mountains, by the sea, small villages to thriving cities... but Akane remained missing.

He knew himself well enough to know that he wouldn't give up, not now, not ever. She had finally confessed – there was no way that he would ever leave her knowing that she loved him now.

And to his surprise he found himself with a large number of allies on his travels – Ryoga was randomly meeting him on occasion, searching all over Japan (and occasionally China and Korea). Ranma still wasn't quite sure how someone could accidentally cross an ocean, but he had to admit that if anyone could do it, it was Ryoga. Mousse and another Amazonian warrior were looking for her as well, and even Ukyo went out on searches.

On top of that, Ranma's story garnered a lot of attention and affection from people, who were not only willing to help him out for free but also kept a lookout in case they saw her.

The police remained unwilling to help, stating that since her father had signed the paperwork that she was to leave the clan as she had dishonoured the family, there was a law to protect her from retribution by incensed family members and her new name was sealed.

Even breaking into the police station in Nerima and threatening had done nothing to resolve that particular problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then he received a message from Kasumi. Aside from the night she had first gone missing he had never been so fast in his life and yet the time it took him to arrive home was far too long. By the time he managed to get from Tokyo station to Nerima it was late at night.

The moment they found themselves –somehow – in bed together there was no holding back anymore. His arms curled around her in a protective embrace. He could feel her naked skin underneath his hands, her body radiating heat, her eyelashes fluttering softly, her lips parted slightly and just then and there, in that moment, he could swear that had never seen anything more beautiful.

She was here. She was alive. She was well.

Akane was back.

In the two years of their engagement, Ranma had made an art form out of studying Akane without her noticing. Now he suddenly found a new, faint scar on her shoulder that he had not seen before. Looking intent, Ranma studied every inch of skin that he could see, needing to learn about this new Akane, about any changes that had taken place as if that would tell him everything that had happened to her in her absence.

His hands traced patterns on her arm, enjoying the feel of the smooth skin under his arms, knowing that this was far more than he had ever dared dream of or hope for when he'd imagined their reunion.

He halted.

Had she... he had heard that women were more relaxed about their body once they'd had sex. Had she...? Did she have a boyfriend? Or had she just... No, not Akane. But what if she found a boyfriend? What if he had touched her as Ranma was now? What if he had kissed her, touched her far more intimately than Ranma would dare to? What if...

Brown eyes snapped open and he found himself hit over the head gently by her hands.

"Baka. I could almost hear you thinking. Just... relax. We will talk tomorrow, but for now can't you just... enjoy?"

Rubbing his head, he noticed absentmindedly that she had gotten even stronger. He was tempted to ask about the boyfriend, the scars, the wrist and ankle bands but held back. She was right; they'd sort it all out tomorrow. All that mattered for now is that she was here – with him.

He pulled her close, nuzzling into her neck, inhaling the unique scent that was Akane – the one he hadn't smelled in four years – and allowed it to relax him.

Finally, both fell asleep together, hugging. Akane was back and that was all that mattered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Err… you can probably guess, but that clan-law… I made that up. Anyway, let me know what you thought!


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